How Did The Crucible Respond To The Red Scare

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The Crucible Final The Crucible by Arthur Miller was published in 1953 as a metaphor to the (just barely ending) Red Scare. The play portrays the Salem Witch Trials that occurred in 1692 and 1693, where friends and neighbors started accusing each other of witchcraft. This refers to the Red Scare because people were being accused of being communist supporters or communist spies. Even today’s society could learn from this when dealing with problems and hysteria. During the Cold War (1947-1991) a mass hysteria over Communist spies became a big issue. Many people felt unsafe and started accusing their neighbors of conspiring with communists. This started McCarthyism, “The practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism.” Over the time of 1947 to 1956 many people’s own words were used against them, and any suspicion was considered evidence. During this time anyone even considered to follow communism lost their job and all credibility, were subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee ( HUAC ), and were imprisoned. The whole situation of the Red …show more content…

There was no video and little documentation in 1963 while the trials were going on, yet Miller still gives the reader a great historical visual on the events that unfolded in Salem. In the play the people of Salem were afraid of witches and go out of their way to hunt down anyone involved with them. But there were many problems with this because at first, people were accused of witchcraft over differences in the past. This got out of control because every witch ( suspected or “proven” ) needed to have a witness, pretty soon most of the town and important characters were in prison or already hanged. People of Miller’s time would have had many connections and references to their

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